


Going With The Flow

by SausageDogLover



Category: One Piece
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Female!Reader - Freeform, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Reader-Insert, dudes talking about their feelings once in a while, noble-born!reader, zoan fruit user!reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:55:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26213017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SausageDogLover/pseuds/SausageDogLover
Summary: One of those reader insert stories. Reader is on the run from her noble family when she crosses paths with the Whitebeard pirates. Wanting to have her own adventure without anyone trying to control her life she joins the Whitebeard crew to travel far away from her family’s reach and find her own path in life (and maybe something more too). Female!reader, zoan user!reader, Acexreader
Relationships: Portgas D. Ace/Reader, Whitebeard Pirates & Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a long time since I used my English, so I'm sorry for the grammar mistakes.
> 
> The main character of this story is you, so I won't specify the appearence or the name. Sometimes she will be described as short or small but everyone is freaking huge and/or ripped in One Piece so I don't think that this will be a problem. Reader comes from a noble family so she is much more educated than most of the pirates and has a zoan type devil fruit.
> 
> Anyways, on with the story!

Chapter 1.

Saying goodbye was never an easy feat for you. But it's not like you had to do it that often. Your family made sure that other than them you don't have people in your life, and saying goodbye to them is a tricky thing when they control every aspect of your existence. Or at least try their damn hardest to do so.

The child of a noble family should not lower themselves to the level of commoners. Getting attached to people is a weakness, and weakness is not affordable for a noble. You kept that nice lesson in mind while writing your goodbye for them. God, just the thought of their snobby faces scrunched up by reading probably the last words you're ever gonna give them...

"Later, suckers"

You simply can't help it, it puts a smile on your face. You could have just left without a word of goodbye but they really hated it when you acted childish. You just couldn't resist. You're usually not great at saying goodbyes, but you definitely nailed this one at least.

It's been weeks since you left home and so far you've been mostly unlucky with your journey. Well, you managed to reach an island before dying of thirst in your crappy fishing boat that you purchased without your family noticing. So there are some upsides to it. You need a plan really fast though. Planning and executing your escape has been your priority for so long that you just forgot that you don’t really know what to do with your (finally free) life after that. Well, at the very least you know what you don’t want to do. Joining the marines is out of the picture. You never really liked any marine that you’ve met and their life was not that much different from the one you’ve been trying so desperately to escape from. The rules and restrictions are a little different but they are still there. 

Piracy sounds the most rewarding to you. Living your life to the fullest with no restrictions, no rules and you choosing your own morals that you want to follow. The catch was that you can’t really be a pirate without a crew. Or well, you would be a really sad one without it. You liked to think that you are good with people but again, it was not that hard to think of yourself as a decent person when you are constantly surrounded by nobles. All in all, you’re a little insecure about your people skills now that you will have to use them to progress. There’s always the option to be a headhunter or a merchant if the crew thing doesn’t work out so you try not to worry about it that much. It’s just a little strange to be without a clear goal after spending so much time in determination to escape your old home. 

Luckily even feeling a little lost and running low on supplies can’t ruin your good mood. You’ve finally set sail and started your own adventure and that is the only thing that matters. 

The first island that you arrive at is of a moderate size with a sandy beach and a peaceful looking city. You recognized it from the map you’ve gotten yourself for your journey. All those boring, never ending lessons your parents made you attend since you were a child are finally paying off. Cartography and astronomy are really helpful now that you have to navigate yourself on the open sea. The thought of them involuntarily helping with your escape amuses you quite a bit. 

You stand up in your boat and finally step ashore, giving a big stretch to your sore limbs. It’s nice to be on dry land again. After the first week on the sea the excitement has started to fade away and gave way to your thoughts about how there’s not a soul around you for God knows how far along and that you are completely alone on the open sea. Not the most cheerful of thoughts when there’s literally nothing to distract you from them. You give a small shake to your head in an attempt to try clearing it. It really would be wisest to focus on the task at hand now, not your unnecessary self-doubting. You chose this particular island as your first stop because it is under the Whitebeard crew’s protection which meant it has to be relatively safe (and the chances of the Whitebeards actually being here were also very slim). 

Of course it wouldn't have been you if things actually went the way you planned them. The sight that welcomed you at your very first destination was a pirate flag proudly dancing along to the small breeze at the docks. The flag showed a skull with sloppy purple markings - clearly not the Whitebeard's jolly roger. Your prediction about the island being safe absolutely failed since a group of pirates (whom you’ve never heard of) were harassing the city, not a care in the world about how the Whitebeards will react. Fantastic. Oh well, maybe if you lay low and just blend into the background you can survive a few days without getting into trouble. You attended a lot of different classes and lessons in your life but fighting was never one of them. Nobles preferred ordering other people to fight in their names, which isn’t gonna work for you now. Luckily you liked to sneak out a lot to play with the kids outside of the inner city and those experiences have taught you a little bit of self defense and you know how to throw a punch. And there’s also your secret powers but you would prefer if you didn’t have to use it so close to home. Your family knows about your demon fruit ability and it would be way too easy to identify you if you caused a scene here. It's just too big of a risk until you get a little farther. 

You try to ignore the pirates while doing the supply run in the city. They stick mostly to the bars so thankfully it’s not that hard. You really could have used a celebratory beer or something for your first real night on the run but you can live without that. Maybe on the next island. Shopping for one person doesn't take up much time in the end so you finish up rather early and don't really know what to do with your free time. Originally the plan was to visit one of the bars to see if maybe you can find someone willing to leave the island with you - after all you had to start somewhere if the goal was to gather a crew. Unfortunately, that idea was quickly dismissed with the unexpected pirate crew rummaging the town. You’re making your way back to your sorry excuse of a boat, trying to make a list in your head to check if you bought everything you needed to. Normally you wouldn’t enjoy chores like shopping for food or inventory checking but now you’re the only one who’s responsible for keeping yourself alive. It is pretty exhilarating. Being alone is scary but it does have it’s exciting side. 

However, your train of thoughts gets disturbed when the sound of struggle and somebody crying hits your sensitive ears. It’s still very early and you can’t help your curiosity – your legs start carrying you towards the scene. You make sure to be as quiet as possible and stay out of sight as you approach the pirates. Two of them are blocking the way of a young girl and an older man (maybe her grandfather?). One of the pirates is a lanky, tall man with what’s clearly a gun strapped to his side. You assume that the shorter one probably has one too. 

“Come on old man” Says tall and ugly “It’s just a few beers, I’m sure you have that kind of money on you.” His eyes slid over to the crying girl. “Of course we always appreciate a good company to our drinks. What do you say honey?” 

They didn’t wait for an answer and grabbed her arm, shoving the poor old guy away as he tried to get his granddaughter behind himself. You felt your anger start to bubble up seeing this injustice. You have had your fair share of that while living with a garbage higher society, always just watching these things happen and never being able to do anything about it. Until now. Screw being recognized! You’ll just leave a little earlier than planned.

Your devil fruit was the only thing for years that kept your sanity and your hopes up for a better future. It was an accident that it got into your hands – well, you got it from one of the merchants while visiting the slums in secret. You bought it because it looked nice and special but you had no idea that it was a powerful weapon. You can remember how disappointed you were at the taste – you really were expecting something phenomenal from such a beautiful looking fruit. However since you have the panther living in your head it’s been much easier to endure the isolation in the noble social circles. You never fit in with them and you proud yourself on that fact but it did get lonely sometimes. Thanks to the zoan fruit you ate the solitary nature of the panther helped you keep your sanity and tone down the loneliness. 

You can feel it take over as you’re making your way towards them, heating up your blood and instincts dominating rational thoughts. You really missed going into full panther mode (your family despised the fact that you could turn into some dirty, furry animal). 

The next few seconds are a blur. You leap and sink your teeth into tall and ugly’s shoulder while tearing down his belt and kicking it away with your back paw. He gave out a howl of agony as you feel your fangs cutting through his meat like a knife cuts through butter, his brain probably not processing that a giant black cat has tore half of his arm down yet. Luckily the other was just as stunned as his partner which gave enough time for you to release your target and go for the still armed enemy. You lift one of your heavy paws and make a huge slash on his leg with your razor sharp claws. You’re about to pounce on the struggling human when you feel a sharp pain in one of your hind legs. You quickly pull away and see that there’s a knife in tall guy’s only remaining good hand, and he cut a deep slash into your leg with it. Not a serious injury but still, it hurts and that pisses you off. 

Your heart skips a beat when you hear a gunshot and everything freezes for a second. In such a close range gunshots are incredibly loud but with your heightened sense of hearing it was almost deafening. However, other than the wound on your back leg you can’t feel any pain in your body. Did the idiot miss you? But you are standing right in front of him, he couldn’t have been that clumsy. 

You slowly turn towards your attacker, golden colored eyes wide open, just to see him fall to the ground with a hole in his chest. Another loud bang echoed through the streets and the other thug was on the ground a few seconds later too, bleeding out on the pebbled street. You wanted to leave this island without alerting too many people of your presence and now you got into a fight with not just two but three different sides. Great work on going unnoticed, you think to yourself, flicking your tail annoyedly. As you take in the sudden third party you immediately get the sense that these guys are not ordinary people. For starters their appearances are quite extraordinary. They put some of the fancy nobles to shame from your old home. One of them has a goatee and brown hair styled into a pompadour hairstyle. You never really understood the appeal of that, but you had to admit it looked somewhat characteristic on the tall guy who was holding the gun. The other man (or woman, you didn’t want to make assumptions) next to him was equally tall (what’s up with all these people being like two or three times your height) and they were wearing a beautiful, unique kimono and immaculate makeup on their face. Both of them had a very powerful aura which made your instincts tingle and the fur on your neck stand up. You couldn’t help but let out a low growl.

“I didn’t know that we had backup for the cleaning” The guy with the pompadour said “And would you look at that! Just when I tell you about how we need a pet for the ship we find ourselves a kittycat! I’m telling you this was meant to be. We’re keeping her right? Right?!”

You’re very confused. The guy with the most intimidating aura you have ever sensed is staring at you with stars in his eyes and a big grin on his face, like you are the best thing he has seen all day. You never got this reaction to your panther form before. The reactions were usually a little bit more sreamy and panicky. 

“Thatch, stop acting like a kid in a candy store, please. You do realize that this is a devil fruit user right? And that she understands everything you say about her.” His partner scolded him with an unimpressed scowl. Even such an expression looked elegant on the powerful stranger's face.

“I’m not an idiot Izo, I saw her turn into a cat a few moments ago. You think I’m that stupid?” The brunette, Thatch, answered with a displeased grimace to Izo. It looks like the banter is something that happens quite often between them, since they already forgot about it and now are staring at you with unreadable expressions. Well, at least the kid and the old man are nowhere to be seen anymore so they got away. You wonder just what you have gotten yourself into with your little heroic stunt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo here’s the first chapter. I have a part time job at the local zoo and I often work around the panthers so that’s how I got the idea of a lead with a big cat zoan power. They are so beautiful creatures, I often just stop to stare at them a little.   
> Anyways hope you enjoyed. Byebye!


	2. Chapter 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you guys! Thanks for everyone who left kudos and comments, I know you've probably heard this a lot but it helps to keep me motivated and means so much to me that you liked my writing. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Hope you'll enjoy!

Chapter 2. 

You never had such a strong fight or flight moment in your life. Your ears are flattened to you head in nervous anticipation, muscles tense, ready to jump at any moment. Judging by the aura these guys give off (thank goodness that you are at least adequate with observation haki) if the situation spirals into a fight you will be in a hell of a trouble. Running away was also pretty risky with your wounded leg dragging you down. The only way to get out of this situation safely is if you try to talk your way out of it, which requires changing back into your human form. You give yourself a quick look-over and tried to ease up your panicking a little. You note that your clothes thankfully didn’t get torn apart by the transformation. You looked way less majestic with your clothes still on in your panther form but it was a huge ass menace when you had to get new ones just because of using your fruit. You tried to wear loose t-shirts and comfy shorts so they could endure you changing forms.

You close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and let your thoughts cool down as you feel your body changing back into it’s normal state. The duo watches your transformation with great interest. As you finish you notice a few ripples on your clothing but it remained relatively usable thankfully. 

“Look at her she’s so small from up close! Hey, little lady, you’ve got quite a spirit to stand up for those civilians. My name’s Thatch and this is my brother Izo.” Thatch says cheerfully, pointing his thumb to the kimono wearing man next to him. Izo looks at you with a neutral expression but then gives a small smile.

You let yourself relax a little. They seem quite amused by you so maybe they don’t have any bad intentions. Also, you feel like you have heard their names before. You decide to introduce yourself as well, careful to leave out your family name.

“Wow, that’s a really cute name. Sounds kinda fancy, like one of those royals in the upper cities.” You cringe at that. You notice that Izo’s staring at the wound on your leg. You feel the blood slowly soak the rim of your shorts and trickle down on your skin. You’re not worried about infection (your fruit makes your immune system way more durable than of a normal human, so as long as you’re careful to not get dirt in it you should be fine) but it’s still a pretty uncomfortable feeling. Finally, the kimono wearing man speaks in a gentle voice:

“That looks like it hurts. You helped us out so it’s only fair if we repay the favor” At that point Thatch gives a hopeful grin to his brother “Would you like to come back with us to our ship? We have many doctor and nurses who could treat your wound. And we could introduce you to our father, I’m sure he would like to hear about the person who stood up for the people under his protection. It’s your choice don’t worry, we’re not gonna abduct you.” He says with a pleasant smile. Or at least you think it’s meant to be pleasant but it feels kinda intimidating. You’re sure that if they would actually want to abduct you there’s nothing you could do about it.

Something clicks in your head as you process the things Izo said. “Under their father’s protection”. No, no, no that can’t be. Or can it? But why would they call their captain ‘father’? You don’t know that much about the Whitebeard pirates. Why would you, you never thought that you will ever have to interact with them. You’ve heard the names of their most infamous members (that’s why they sounded so familiar!) and knew that they were one of the most powerful pirates on the sea. And if they are speaking the truth they want to help you out. 

You have your suspicions about their offer. Pirates are not exactly famous for their selfless generosity so you have a hard time believing that you actually got this lucky. Nobles liked to call pirates the scum of the world (among many other types of people) and often talked about how everything would be better without pests like them. This didn’t mean much to you of course other than sympathizing with pirates a little. The enemy of my enemy is my friend after all. 

“Thank you, some help would come really handy right now, if it’s not a burden for you. And a beer. I could definitely use a beer as well.” You decide to take your chances. It’s much easier to bond with people over a cup of drink, and with pirates you think some alcohol would be the best choice. Also, you’ve had the most stressful weeks of your life, even if you’re not that big on drinking you kinda crave it now to relieve the stress a little.

“Ha! Now that’s what I’m talking about! Get ready we’re about to have a party tonight to celebrate getting rid of these losers.” Thatch says while walking over to you and helping to balance your weight on your good leg.

“As if you need a reason to get wasted. You just come up with excuses every time to drink without feeling ashamed. What was it last time, for managing to cook a steak just at the right level of rawness?” Izo says unimpressed with his brother’s behavior. He turns to you with a softer expression. “And why would it be a burden, we were the ones who offered to help you out. You really are not from around here, are you? That’s a weirdly polite way to talk to pirates.”

Was it weird? You know that pirates are usually not this nice but these guys didn’t give you a reason to not be polite with them. They actually seemed rather nice, much MUCH nicer than the people you were used to be around. You slowly start to make your way with Thatch’s help towards their ship, trying not to put too much strain on your hurt leg.

“I’ve had a lot of opportunities to learn that it’s not right to judge people only based on the things you hear about them. You guys actually seem nice.” The pirates stare at you with a little bit of surprise on their faces, but seemingly amused. They are probably not used to random strangers calling them nice (or calling them anything since people generally avoid encounters with world famous criminals).

The way back to the Moby Dick is filled with Thatch telling you about their many sibling on the ship – mostly brothers or as he put it “kinda a sausage fest”. You listen to his stories with great interest, glad to have something that distracts you from your embarrassing position in the man’s arms. Thatch grew annoyed with the slow pace quite fast so now he’s carrying you to the ship in a steady pace. 

“Man, I can’t wait to introduce you to Ace! He’s one of our youngest – wait, actually he’s probably around your age, ha! But anyways, he and I get into a lot of trouble. You see our first commander is very easy to annoy, which makes it very easy to prank him. It’s like he’s asking for it. I’m telling you he’s secretly enjoying it or something!” You stop paying attention to Thatch’s rant as the Moby Dick comes into view. You have heard about the Whitebeard’s ship before but the rumors don’t do it justice – it’s freaking HUGE. You feel like laughing as the little fishing boat you left at the docks comes to your mind. 

“Impressive, isn’t it? Well, there’s more than 1600 of us in the crew, so that means a big ship. Or well, ships. The other three nearby are also ours.” Thatch explains with great pride in his voice, understanding that you’re a little overwhelmed by the situation. 

“More than 1600 people in one crew? How do you keep order with this many people?” You ask in awe, feeling a newfound respect towards their captain. You parents had a lot of people working under them too, but they were cruel and often used punishments like beating and public shaming to keep their subordinates in check. Your two escorts seemed perfectly happy and talked with great respect and admiration about their captain – hell, they kept calling him “father”. You decide to ask about that later on.

“The crew is divided into 16 divisions, all with different responsibilities around the ship. Each of them has a commander who makes sure that their people are in line and the tasks are taken care of.” Izo explains to you, seemingly entertained by your innocent curiosity about their crew. The people they meet up are usually familiar with the division system. “I’m the commander of the 16th division and that idiot is the 4th division’s commander.”

“And also the main chef, so if you have any wishes about the feast tonight feel free to ask!” Thatch pipes in with a hearty laugh, also entertained by being able to show off with his titles.

You process the information, not really surprised by their ranks. You knew they were well known so it was obvious that they are gonna be important members in the crew. Your stomach gives out a little rumble to the promise of food, so you decide to take Thatch up on his offer. The events of the day completely made you forget about having something to eat.

“Actually, something partially raw would be really nice to have. Preferably steak. When I let the panther take over it always leaves me with a few side effects.” You say, careful not to drool while talking about the aforementioned piece of food. You tend to go on a more vegetarian diet, so your zoan fruit can’t mess with your head too much but today it really doesn’t matter anymore. It’s also very doubtful that the pirates will be bothered by a little misbehavior on your side – like lacking the proper table manners. The cat tended to eat a little more ferociously than your noble upbringing taught you. Thatch visibly brightens up by the chance to show off his cooking skills.

“Anything for our beautiful guest! I’m sure that those idiots on the ship will also be very thrilled to have a steak party.” Thatch says, adjusting you a little better in his grip.

“Especially a certain fire logia using idiot. He’s been bugging you about a meat themed feast for weeks.” Izo pipes in with an obvious fondness in his voice.

“Well, if it was up to Ace we would go on a solely meat-based diet every day. I’ve been trying to teach him the importance of a balanced meal since the day I first saw him eat but it’s no use. That man is hopeless. Something about the way he was brought up, having to fight for the meat at the table.” This random scrap of information leaves you thinking a little. Having a rather “privileged” childhood you never had to worry about food or having a place to sleep. It came with a heavy price but it was still relatively safe if not for the mental scars it gave you. You’re gonna meet a lot of people on this ship with the most diverse and interesting life stories and honestly you can’t wait to learn about them.

The trip to the infirmary is rather fast and professional, the nurses making friendly small talk with you and asking if you have any allergies or sensitivity for the ointment they use. You can’t help it but feel glad that the nurses are female. It was a little worrying how everyone stared when Thatch and Izo returned to the ship with you but having other women on board calms you down a little.

Izo went ahead to write their report about the events in the town but Thatch stayed outside of the infirmary, giving you a huge smile as you walked out with your freshly bandaged leg. You try stepping on it lightly, feeling the medication already doing it’s job, dulling out most of the pain.

“So how’s the leg? It seemed bad but I learned that a lot of wounds look worse than they actually are.” Thatch said conversationally, letting you hold onto his elbow to keep yourself from putting too much strain on the hurt limb.

“It’s fine honestly, if I’ll be careful to not tear up the wound it’ll be gone in a few days. Advanced healing abilities and stuff.” You answer, staring up at Thatch and flashing you eyes yellow for a moment to make a point. 

“Haha, zoan fruits are quite useful aren’t they? If I ever gonna get a devil fruit I think I would want one of those too. Our fist mate has one of the rarest types and it’s pretty cool when he transforms into his fire chicken form. But don’t ever tell him I said that!” Thatch says in good spirit, leading you towards a gigantic wooden door. At that moment you realize that you have no idea where he’s taking you.

“Umm, thanks for patching me up but where are we going right now?” And also, why’s that door like five times as big as the others in the hallway. Seems like a waste of space in such a confined living habitat as a ship. 

“To meet with Pops of course! Told you he would want to hear about you and the mission. You see we don’t take kindly to scum like those assholes making a mess in our territory. If we let anyone terrorize the people in our protected cities then we would lose reputation very fast. And with a good reason!” He tells you with a hearty laugh, not noticing (or just simply not caring about) your panicked state next to him. You’re about to meet Edward Newgate, one of the four emperors of the sea and you have no idea what to expect. They told you that you’re gonna meet him but you didn’t realize that it will happen so soon. It also doesn’t help that you feel kinda pathetic with your injured leg, limping along with the commander. It would have been nice to make a great first impression.

“You have no reason to worry, you know? I know it’s hard to believe because of our reputation but he’s a good person and you seem like a good person too. Try to relax.” That actually does calm you down a little and you give an uncertain, little smile to Thatch to which he responds with his own radiant one and ruffles you hair.

“Well, here we go! After this we’ll make sure to have that celebration we talked about.” He says opening the great doors to the captain’s chambers. You don’t even feel that hungry anymore but the crave for some alcohol grows a little stronger. It feel like your nerves have been deep fried in the last couple of hours and you desperately need a little rest. Taking a deep breath, you make your way into the gigantic room, mentally preparing yourself for a chat with one of the most powerful men in the world.


	3. Chapter 3.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's a new chapter for you. I'll try to keep up an at least one chapter per week schedule but uni started at it will depend on how much work we'll get. Ace is in this chapter finally :D Hope you'll enjoy!

You walk through that monstrosity of a door with Thatch on you side, trying to step as confidently as possible with your limp and hold your head high. Thatch is right, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Getting hurt was a result of helping out some innocent people so it shouldn’t bother you.

Seeing Whitebeard for the first time explained the purpose of the gigantic door for sure. HOW on Earth is he a normal human? Or maybe he isn’t, you really don’t know. Anyways, now it’s kinda hard not to be intimidated by him. Usually you have confidence in your abilities and know that you can handle yourself with the help of your devil fruit but now… well, you feel kinda small and vulnerable. You try not to show it though. 

“Pops, we’re back! Izo went ahead to write the report about how things went, but it’s not gonna take long. Those bastards were pretty pathetic, only brave while they thought that we were on the other side of the sea.” 

“Hmm, I see. Well, I hope there weren’t many casualties with the citizens.” He turned his attention from Thatch to you now “And may I ask who our guest is? It’s not often that we get visitors who aren’t our known allies.” He asks in a gentle tone, amused smile on his face. You tell him your name (careful to only use a shorter form now so it won’t sound that fancy) and thank him that his crew helped out with your injury. Thatch gives a fond smile at your politeness.

“Pops, I know that we don’t often bring people to the ship but we met her while she was protecting the civilians in the city. That’s how she got her injury too. She’s a zoan fruit user so she will be alright in a few days and I thought she could stay with us until that happens. If that is alright by you of course.” You sneak a glance at the commander in bewilderment. It was pretty strange to see someone as childish and generally loud as Thatch being this humble.

“Gurarara! It seems like you already have one of my commanders wrapped around your finger, kiddo! You can stay and recover at our ship but we always appreciate a brave and loyal addition to our crew. Do you have anywhere to be or would you consider joining us instead?” He stares at you expectantly, with a smile that radiates way too much kindness for a warlord. In the meanwhile your brain has just pressed reset. He wanted.. that YOU.. whom he just met… WHAT???

Even though you couldn’t force out a single word your face must have been expressive enough because both he and Thatch burst out laughing.

“I’m sorry child, this offer must seem really out of the blue and I didn’t want to scare you. It’s not necessary to decide now, you can think about it while you recover.” He offers you with an amused smile, thinking that you were intimidated by the invite. You quickly get you act together at that, forcing yourself to keep eye contact while you speak to Whitebeard.

“No, no it’s not that.. To be honest, I have nowhere to be and also nowhere to go back to. As unexpected as this is, I would truly love to join your crew but before that you really should know that my family… well, they are nobles with quite a heavy influence in politics and the military.” You try your damn hardest to not let your voice waver, feeling anxiety creep into your mind. You took a large risk with telling someone as powerful as the Yonko about your origins. You start to wonder if it was a bad idea – there’s nothing you can do to stop the pirate captain if he decides that he wants to hand you back to your parents for some reward money. Fuck.

“And do you think they would come after you?” Whitebeard asks, his face still not showing anything other than silent anticipation. You give this question a little thought, but eventually shake your head.

“No, I don’t think so. You see, the thing about nobles is that they usually have a ton of kids. If something happens to one, there’s always a replacement, or something like that. I don’t like being controlled and they don’t like things they can’t control so I’m sure they won’t make an effort to come after me. I can’t 100% guarantee it though, so I understand if you don’t want to put your crew in danger for someone you’ve just met.” At this Thatch gives you a little jab with his elbow, as if you’ve somehow offended him with what you just said. 

“Believe me child, we’re not that easy to scare off” Whitebeard says, followed by one of his signature laughs “If they decide to come after us we will deal with them in a way we see fit, but until then let’s not worry about things that have not happened yet. You grow old way to early that way!” His expression turns soft, as if he’s truly delighted to have you in his crew. “Welcome to the family, kid. You’ll be placed into one of the unused patient’s rooms next to the nurses for now. And we’ll put you into Thatch’s division since you’re already familiar with him.” At that, Thatch gave you a bright grin, clearly happy that the meeting with your captain went well and you’re part of the crew now.

“You’ll be fine in my division, don’t worry. We’re mostly responsible about food and restocking when we dock at an island. It’s not that hard after you get the hang of it.” He says cheerily and you brighten up at the information. At home you experienced a lot with cooking. You were the only one who had a friendly relationship with the staff so when you were stuck at home the servants often took you down to the kitchens. They gave you small tasks at the beginning but you grew to love helping out and in a few years you could put together rather difficult dishes all by yourself. Cooking brought you together with the only people who were kind enough to care about you in the household so it takes up a special place in your heart. Which will come quite handy now.

“Actually, I would say I’m rather skilled at cooking. I don’t want to be a burden so maybe I could get a job at the kitchen? I’m fine with whatever starter tasks, really.” Even if you will have to do the dishes for 1600+ people. But that’s just how it is with kitchen duty, you’ll have to work your way up from the bottom.

“It’s decided then! Maaan, I can’t wait to show you some of my recipes! Finally a fellow crew member who can appreciate the culinary arts.” You grin at Thatch, feeling that his excitement starts to affect you too.

“Son, I’m sure that your new sister would like to settle down a little now. You went through a lot today, child. Thatch, please show her to her new living chambers and inform the others that a celebration is in order tonight. And your kitchen duty will start when your leg recovered properly of course.” And with that you were dismissed. You barely remember the way to your new room as your adrenaline rush came to an end and completely emptied your head. Before you noticed you were standing in your rather empty room alone, with an injured leg and as a part of the Whitebeard crew.

Your legs finally gave out, as you collapse face-first on the pristine, white bed and let out a kinda hysterical laugh. It’s insane that all of this stuff happened in the matter of one day. Which is still not over. It’s hard to imagine what a party held by such a big group of pirates will look like but you’re really excited. You’ve been to a few bar gatherings in your times when you sneaked our but never in anything too big. You’re pretty sure that it will get insane really fast. 

It would be wise to get some shuteye right now but unfortunately you can feel the sand from the beach under your clothes and you really need to change out of the bloodied pants. With a groan you force yourself into a standing position and practically drag your body towards the showers. You got your own room, but you share the showers with the nurses on the ship who probably make out most of the other female members of the crew. Even though you’re glad that you’re not the only girl, you’re still relieved that the showers have relatively few visitors this way. You’re used to a high level of privacy and aren’t really comfortable with the idea of showering together with strangers.

Your tense muscles finally relax as the warm water washes the sand and blood off your body. Now that you’re alone you can finally think about the things you’ve learned today. Not all the rumors and warnings in the world could have prepared you for your first meeting with Whitebeard. He was actually rather… nice? It makes you clench your teeth in anger as you think about the things your parents used to say about the old Yonko, calling him and his crew savage beasts and ruthless criminals. You’ve just met Whitebeard but you’re already willing to defend his name to any of the shitty nobles who would dare to talk about him that way. 

You try to clean yourself up rather quickly and thoroughly while not getting the bandages on your injured leg wet, which is not an easy feat but you manage eventually. Once again, you collapse into your new bed in a fresh change of clothes that you had with you from your shopping trip to the town and let sleep take over. You’re sure that your new “brothers” won’t let you sleep through your own party and come to get you when it’s time. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite being more tired than you’ve ever been in your life you sleep rather lightly, so you wake up immediately to the knock on your door. You ignore the fact that you hair is probably a disaster now and go to open up the door. To your surprise it’s not Thatch, but Izo, smiling brightly at you.

“Ah, sorry if I woke you. I just came to congratulate you on new position as a Whitebeard. Welcome to the crew, little sister!” You feel your throat clench at those words. Family is a touchy subject for you, and it’s very strange to hear those words in such a gentle tone. Izo must have noticed your emotional state since he put a hand on your shoulder encouragingly, giving it a little squeeze. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. We call each other family on this ship and it can be a little overwhelming at the beginning. But for now you should get ready, people are starting to get drunk up there and I’m sure you wouldn’t want to miss your own welcome party.” He said with a wink, making his way towards the deck to join his brothers.

You quickly try to make yourself presentable, kinda giving up halfway since you only have a few clothes in your bag right now. You make a mental note that first thing in the morning you’ll have to go back to your boat and get the rest of your stuff.

You make your way to the upper deck (or at least try to since the Moby Dick is a freaking labyrinth) and when you finally get there you try to spot Thatch or Izo in the crowd. The deck is a flurry of drunk people dancing, singing and fighting with each other so you give up for the time being and walk up to one of the long tables to get yourself a beer. Ah, finally. You let out a groan at the pleasantly sour taste on your tongue, taking a few large sips of the well deserved beverage and enjoy the music and the general atmosphere of the pirate party. That is until you see a guy sitting at the table not far from you in a… well, a rather interesting position. Poor dude, he must have had too much too early you think, as he’s completely knocked out, his head resting on the table while he’s stuck in a sitting position. You get an uneasy feeling though and you walk a little closer, seeing that his face is in a rather large cup of whatever beverage he was drinking. Umm.. The bubbles he’s making as he’s breathing into the booze are getting less frequent with each breath he takes. Is.. Is he FUCKING DROWNING?!

You act quickly, lifting his face out of the drink and putting the cup aside. He gives a little cough, slowly opens his eyes and looks at you confused. You realize at that moment that you’re still holding his face between your hands, and you’re expression’s probably pretty panicked too. You can’t help but laugh at the situation, it’s just so ridiculous that on top of all things you saved a crewmember of the Whitebeards from drowning in his own cup of booze. He looks at you with a little bewilderment but eventually he starts laughing with you. You let go of his face and reach for your beer instead.

“Sorry for the awkward moment there. Or well, not sorry because I just saved your ass. How the hell did you not wake up to almost drowning?” You ask him, still chuckling and taking a sip from your booze. Before he could answer though Thatch appears next to him and gives mystery guy a hearty slap on the back.

“Ah, Ace, I see that you met our newest crewmember. I hope you didn’t say anything offending to her, ha?” He asks Ace, with a few cups of sake in his system already and looking for a fight. Ace gives him an incredulous look, and lifts his hands in front of himself in a defensive way. 

“I haven’t even had the chance to say anything so chill out, will ya? And for a fact, I can be pretty damn polite if I want to be” He says back, pushing Thatch away from him. He then proceeds to take a huge gulp out of the drink that almost killed him a few minutes ago. You decide that this guy is hilarious. He turns to you and gives you a charming smile. Or well, as charming as it can be with beer still dripping down his chin from the previous events. You smile back and introduce yourself to him, clinking your cups together in the meantime as a little cheers for your meeting.

“It’s nice to meet you and welcome to our family! My name is Ace and I’m the 2nd division’s commander. Feel free to ask any embarrassing questions about Thatch.” You both laugh as the 4th division commander’s face turns red and starts to threaten Ace about not letting him have any snacks till the next island.

“A-anyway, Ace, you should know that now we don’t just have a new sister but also our very own cat for our ship. And a big one at that!” Thatch says triumphantly, gesturing to you with both of his arms. Ace just stares at you with mild confusion on his face, not really getting what his drunk brother is talking about. You decide that this is the perfect chance to mess with Thatch a little. You have only known the guy for like a few hours but you already feel the need to give him a taste of his own medicine.

“W-what? Umm, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Does that “cat” remark has something to do with me being a girl? And what was that about being big?” You ask him with doe eyes, trying to look as innocent as humanly possible. Ace furrows his brows and points accusingly at Thatch.

“Yeah, what the hell?! And you’re calling ME out on being rude? That was not a nice thing to say!”

You almost let out a chuckle at Ace’s protective reaction. Thatch stares at you blankly and you give him a smirk from behind Ace so only the chef can see it. His jaw drops and you lean back in your chair, feeling pretty smug.

“She’s… I wasn’t… I’m telling you…” He stammers, way too intoxicated to put together a believable explanation. Ace raises one of his eyebrows, not impressed by the chef’s way of handling the situation. You finally take mercy on him (and it feels like your ribs are cracking from the repressed laughing) and you change your eyes to yellow and let your claws pop out.

“Oh, you were talking about THESE things! Sorry, my bad!” You finally let out that laugh, shocking both of the confused men with your little prank. As the surprise fades, Ace cracks up too and joins you in laughing, throwing an arm around your shoulders.  
“Man, that was good! You’ve only been here for like half a day and you already managed to prank Thatch! You and I are gonna be good friends, I can tell!” He gives you such a radiant smile that you feel your face heating up. Or maybe it’s just the alcohol working it’s way through your system, who knows. 

“Well, well, looks like we have a fellow prankster here, isn’t that right Little Miss? You see, Ace and I are rather well-experienced in the craftsmanship so let me tell you about a few of our incidents with our dearest first mate!” Thatch plops down to the seat that’s facing you and Ace at the table and the two men proceed to tell you about how they torment their stoic first mate with their (you have to admit, rather well executed) pranks on a daily basis. As you’re sitting with the two commanders, listening to their crazy stories and sometimes chiming in with one of your own a rather unfamiliar feeling comes to you. You never felt more like you belong in your life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo they finally met. I wrote this while listening to my online philosophy class and it was an interesting experience. See you in the next chapter!


End file.
